Boeing committed to investing in Virgin Orbit's Nasdaq debut
The shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) are up 2.1% at $217.17 at last check, after the company announced today that it will invest in a SPAC public listing this year that involves Virgin Galactic (SPCE) CEO Richard Branson's satellite launch company Virgin Orbit. Digging deeper, Virgin Orbit plans to join the Nasdaq via a $3.2 billion merger with NextGen Acquisition II (NGCA), a blank-check company whose shares also soared after the announcement. At this time, it is unclear how much Boeing is planning on investing in the venture.
Call traders are piling on Boeing stock after the announcement. In fact, in the first hour of trading, 38,000 calls have already exchanged hands, which is double the intraday average and just over four times the amount of puts traded. Most popular by far is the weekly 8/27 220-strike call, followed by the 217.50-strike call from the same series, with new positions being opened at both.
Analysts, meanwhile, are mostly bullish as well, though there is some room for upgrades, as six of the 16 in coverage still recommend a tepid "hold." Meanwhile, BA's 12-month consensus target price of $268.08 is a 23.3% premium to current levels.
On the charts, Boeing stock closed below the $215 level in its last two sessions, something the equity has failed to do since January. Fresh off its first weekly decline in five weeks, the security still has support in place from the 320-day moving average. Longer term, Boeing stock is up 30.3% year-over-year.